Dave Mustaine says he isn’t ‘covering’ Metallica
Dave Mustaine recently confirmed that Megadeth recorded a cover of Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning” for their forthcoming final album – which is due out in January.
Mustaine famously co-wrote the track during his time with James Hetfield and co. in the early ‘80s, but does not play on the version of the song that is featured on Metallica’s 1984 album of the same name.
In a new interview with Kerrang!, Mustaine addressed whether he even considers Megadeth’s version of “Ride the Lightning” to be a cover, given his role in writing the original.
“No. Because I wrote the song too. I think other people will say that, but if you’re asking me, I don’t think it’s a cover song,” the frontman said.
Weighing in on which version of the track he thinks is better, Megadeth’s or Metallica’s, Mustaine noted that the response to his rendition has been largely positive.
“When it was done, we played it for a couple of people, and a lot of people we know are fans of that band and that song, so they knew what they were listening to, A vs. B, and the consensus has been pretty much the same – that we did a fitting homage. I think we did it at least as good – it’s a little faster,” he said.
“If you’re going to do a cover song,” Mustaine added. “You’ve got to do it at least as good, if not better.”
As to why he chose to include his take on “Ride the Lightning” on Megadeth’s final album, he explained that it’s his attempt at “closing the circle” and “a matter of showing respect to where this all started.”
Megadeth recently announced that their upcoming new self-titled album will officially be their last. Giving a few hints about the record, frontman Dave Mustaine previously teased that they “have 13 new songs for the new album… One of the songs is a cover song but I actually wrote it, so it’s kind of like a cover, kind of like my song.”
Now, after much fan speculation, it has officially been confirmed that the cover Mustaine was referring to is Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning.”
While Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica in 1983 before the release of their debut album “Kill ‘Em All,” he is credited with writing four songs on the record and two songs on the band’s second album, including the title track “Ride the Lightning.”
Dave Mustaine respects Metallica
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Mustaine shared some details about their cover of “Ride the Lightning,” revealing that Megadeth’s rendition stays truer to the version he originally wrote for Metallica rather than James Hetfield and co.’s reworked version.
Insisting that he has nothing but respect for his former band, Mustaine explained why they decided to cover the track.
“It wasn’t really that I wanted to do my version,” he told the publication. “I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect.”
Much of that respect, Mustaine says, is for Metallica’s frontman James Hetfield.
“No one ever talks to me about that,” he says of Hetfield’s skill. “One day he’s a singer, the next day he’s this f*cking powerhouse, and I’ve always respected him as a guitar player.
“So I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with [Mustaine’s band before Metallica] Panic and several of the songs that ended up in the Metallica repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song.”
“Our intentions were pure,” Mustaine continued. “I didn’t have any reason I was going to say, ‘Oh, hey man, this thing that we’ve had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.’ That wasn’t it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that … I mean, I hate to say this, because it’s just so f*cking arrogant, but the guitar playing in Metallica changed the world.”
